According to reports, insiders have revealed the ‘most likely’ FFP punishment for Manchester City, with the ‘doomsday scenario’ ruled out.

Man City are still trying to prove their innocence and have appealed after it was confirmed that they have been found guilty on almost all FFP charges for wrongdoing between 2009 and 2018.

After a four-year probe, the Premier League referred Man City to an independent comission at the start of 2023 for FFP rule breaches, and a six-week hearing took place at the end of 2024.

Enzo Maresca‘s side have gone about business as usual and spent over £400m on signings in the summer, but they now face an uphill battle to clear their name after the one-sided verdict went so badly against them.

Man City’s list of potential sanctions includes a huge fine, transfer ban, points deduction, expulsion and/or being stripped of their Premier League titles, and any punishment is on the table given the extremity of City’s wrongdoing.

Now, a report from journalist Oliver Holt for The Daily Mail has revealed that ‘insiders’ feel the ‘most likely’ outcome is a three-part punishment for Man City, though the ‘doomsday scenario’ looks unlikely…

Manchester City’s three-part FFP punishment explained

The report claims Man City are set to be given a ‘huge points deduction which will guarantee relegation’ and a ‘huge fine’.

It is also noted that it is ‘possible’ that ‘the punishment would include a further points deduction that would effectively confine City to the Championship for at least one more season’, though the ‘EFL would not be obliged to accept that sanction for one of their clubs, but it is probable that they would’.

Alternatively, it has been suggested that Man City face the ‘doomsday scenario’ of expulsion to League Two or below after the guilty verdict, but this is unlikely becuase it ‘would plunge both the Premier League and the EFL into an unprecedented kind of chaos’ and ‘be self-defeating’.

Regardless, the Premier League are now ‘pressing for City’s punishment to be announced before the result of their appeal, which is unlikely to be decided before the end of January’.

And this goes against the claims from Arsenal legend Martin Keown, who suggested on Monday that he knows the timeline for the appeal and Man City’s punishment.

Keown said on talkSPORT: “I’m hearing rumours that this will all be over in a number of weeks.

“I’m just telling you what I’m hearing.

“In six weeks or so, we’ll see what’s going to happen.

“And it won’t be nearly as bad as we think it might be.

“Maybe they get off with huge fines and we return to the football pitch again.”